Fresh Layouts, Design Team Wednesday

I LOVE PRETTY PAPER!  and PINTEREST!  Yes, it is somewhat of an addiction (for both).  I am so inspired by ideas on Pinterest and I do have to stop myself from buying more paper sometimes, especially while in Scrapdoodles :)  This trip to Scrapdoodles, I was able to pick up some beautiful papers from Teresa Collins.  The first selection is from her "Fabrications" line.  This paper almost feels like fabric and it was fun to play with some distressing on the edges.  The colors - especially the blue and yellow - are so cheery and really pop when paired up with the neutrals.  This first layout is a scraplift from a layout I first saw on Pinterest (original source here). 

This next set of layouts is also made with Teresa Collins papers, her "Spring Fling" line.  The colors and patterns are bright and fun.  Again, I was inspired by layouts first seen on Pinterest.  This chevron pattern tutorial was found here.  It was easy to piece together using small 1x3 inch strips.  I sewed and roughed up the edges a bit to add a little dimension.  It adds just the right pop of color while still keeping these cute photos of H. and daddy at the forefront.

As soon as I saw this pleated circle on this layout (original source) I knew I wanted to try it out, too.  It's actually quite easy to do.  The original looks much more perfect than mine, but I'm good with that :)  It's sewn onto the scallop circle to keep it in place.  Then I just layered all kinds of die cuts (all from Teresa Collins' "Spring Fling"), some lace trim (October Afternoon) and a few gems to complete the look.



Cultivating Gratitude / Gratitude Journal Class

My next class, Cultivating Gratitude: A Gratitude Journal and More is now open for registration HERE.

I'm so excited to offer this class through My Creative Classroom.  We'll be making a journal from scratch using an old hardcover book.  I also have several other crafty projects prepared so that you can share everything you're grateful for with others, too.  I hope you can join me!  Class starts March 30th.  Don't forget it's all online, there are no grades, just great ideas and crafty goodness.

K is for Kite Scrapbook Layout

We've been having some windy days in March (imagine that) and Hannah and I decided to attempt kite-flying in the backyard.  It took a few tries, but we got our Cinderella kite high up in the air.  Hannah was all excited about it until the wind started taking her for a ride and she began yelling, "I'm done! I'm done!"  Well this mama was having fun so I kept it going until, alas, the apple tree ate our kite.  Oh, bummer!  At least we can relive the memories in a scrapbook page.

Luckily, I spotted this super cute kite-flying paper from imaginisce (see the line, including the super-cute kite paper on their product page here) at Scrapdoodles last week.  I picked up the coordinating spring border sheet and a pack of stickers to work with.  I've seen a lot of fun strips of ribbons or papers as borders on layouts lately and these papers seemed to fit the bill for that kind of design.  I simply cut up my border sheet and arranged them in varying lengths down the left side of my page.  I was inspired by the kite strings to stitch on my page and haphazardly ran a few wavy lines to secure my strips.  My title cut is from Cricut's Nate's ABCs cartridge.  I created the feel of a windy day by extending the kite-tail down the page by cutting small "ribbons" from paper scraps and sewing them in place along the stitched tail.

Hope you get a little kite-flying in this March.  And watch out for the apple trees!

Pretty Spring Garland and Banner

I'm itching for spring.  How about you?  To hasten the season, I decided to create a couple of lovely spring decor items, namely a butterfly garland and a banner.  I used some pretty papers I found at Scrapdoodles (the most awesomest scrapbook store!).  The papers are double-sided  from We R Memory Keepers.  The line is called "Cotton Tail" and features an adorable bunny on the coordinating border sheet and stickers.  You can see the whole line here on their website, or just go to Scrapdoodles and get some :)

For my butterfly garland, I chose a butterfly cut from the Cricut Sentimentals cartridge and cut out several, all the same size, from the various papers.  It was really easy to put together.  I used some twine, some irridescent pony beads (which I looped to hold in place) and some glue dots.  The twine is sandwiched between two butterflies.  I then folded out the wings of the butterflies.  The photos do not do this garland justice as it takes on a life of its own with any gentle breeze.  The butterflies twirl and the beads sparkle.  I thought they also looked pretty cute piled up in one of my sun-purpled glass plates.

I used the same line to create this easy spring banner.  The base is a cut from Cricut's Something to Celebrate cartridge.  I cut slits in the tops and wove my ribbon through to link all the pieces.  I think the brown kraft paper really allows the patterns to shine.  My letters are the font from the Sophisticated cartridge.  The flowers, about 24 total, are from Walk in My Garden.  These were really easy to do, too.  After cutting the flowers I just used my hands to crinkle and fold them in to give them shape.  I simply used hot glue to attach them to the base and then added a sparkly gem in the middle of each flower.

Since I had several butterflies left over from the garland project, I added a few onto the banner, adorning them with more crystals.  Then, I added a few extra sparkly brads to complete the project.  It's adorable!

Hope you're able to craft some spring around you!

Lenten Calendar

My friend Cheryl recently challenged our church family (through our family bible study night and through her blog) to think about this Lenten season in a new way.  (See Cheryl's blog post here.)  Traditionally, we "give something up" for Lent.  This year, with her suggestions, my family is adding something in to our Lenten Season.   We made and purchased blank cards to send out during Lent to family and friends - 40 cards for 40 days.  Actually, it's a few more than that, and it's hard to stop at 40.  We are including Bible verses in each card and a note that we are praying for them and thinking about them this Lent. 
Thanks to another Bible study contributer, a blank calendar was shared and I decided to put the two ideas together in a 12x12 scrapbook page.   Here is the result.

It's a great visual reminder to us to pray for each person or family listed as well as remind us to send out our cards.   Later, after Lent is over, I will add some journaling about the experience and reflect on how it affected us and those we prayed for.

All About Ribbon Class at MCC

All About Ribbon starts tomorrow at My Creative Classroom.  12 Instructors (including me!) are sharing awesome inspiration for everything ribbon!

From My Creative Classroom:

Got ribbon? We do! And we have boatloads of it. If you are looking for some ribbon inspiration, look no further as we explore borders, bows, flowers and faux ribbon. We'll even cover how to organize those unruly knots and how to use up that stash! Join 12 MCC Instructors for this fun class.

• Week One: Join us as we get you started on this journey. Shirley Pando will provide a general overview of the types of ribbons and some other basics. Then Cara Miller and Jeri Parks will dive into the many uses for ribbons as borders. You'll be amazed at how versatile ribbons can be. 
• Week Two: Join Jennifer Priest, Donna Maligno, Deena Ziegler, Rachel Smith and Cristal Hobbs as they walk you through creating flowers out of ribbons and mastering the bow!
• Week Three: Join Catherine Scanlon and Kim Parkinson as they guide you through a few different looks of faux ribbon. It might not help get rid of your stash but sometimes, you need to make your own perfect ribbon to complete your project.
• Week Four: Join Karen Hunter, Jennifer Priest and Deena Ziegler in our final week. This week we'll talk about organizing your ribbons and how to use up that stash.

To register, just follow this link All About Ribbon.  Hope to see you in the classroom!

Memo Board and Winter Layout

Happy Scrapdoodles Design Team Wednesday! I am highlighting two beautiful collections that can be found in the store.  First up is Authentique's "Gathering" collection.  This collection is so versatile!  The colors (blue, orange/coral, brown) are very trendy right now and lend well to layouts and projects of all types.  I fell in love with the patterned paper called "Flourish" and used it as my background for this hanging memo board.  I started with a 12x12 square of cork board and hot-glued the patterened paper (which I trimmed by about 1/4 inch on each side and rounded the corners).
I kept the board simple - just using a few of the die cut quotes and shapes from the same collection.  As a bottom border, I used some felt ric-rac ribbon I found from My Mind's Eye. 

Then, I found and printed a free 2012 mini calendar from online and cut each month and attached it to a square of patterned paper, punched holes and strung it with brown ribbon.  Since the back of my board is cork, I attached the calendar pages with a large felt-covered tac.  I also made my own little notepad with graphing paper cut into strips and bound together with ribbon.  To attach this to the cork board, I actually made two holes with my awl and secured the pad with the ribbon - it's tied in the back.  To hang the board, I hot glued the large ribbon hanger and then the two bows on top in each corner.   

Since I had a lot of scraps left over, I made several simple cards.  For these I started with a plain card base and decorated the fronts with paper, ribbon, buttons, and die cuts.

Next up is this wintery layout.  I know we've hardly had any snow in the region this year, but there are so many new winter lines in the store, it's hard to pass them up.  Maybe you can catch up scrapping the Big Snow we had a few years ago! One of my new favorites is Fancy Pants Designs' "Winterland" collection.  I love the soft colors and subtle patterns.  One of the border strip sheets had a quote "Snowflakes are kisses from heaven" which made me think of the fun my daughter had when it "snowed" back in January.  She kept running around saying it tickled and tasted like frosting!  I knew this was the perfect line for a layout with her sticking out her tongue to catch the snowflakes.  The layout came together easily with a full background sheet, one border and a few of the coordinating heavy-weight stickers.  I added a bit of paper lace I had in my stash and cut out a title using my Cricut (Gypsy Wanderings cartridge).  There's still more "winterland" left and, perhaps, one more snow in Virginia before spring is finally here!  Happy Scrappin' Everyone!